Not so imaginary friends
by SSApoofiepie94
Summary: Ok, so Merlin's only real close friend in his childhood was Will, but what if he'd had other friends that everyone just assumed were imaginary? Just a cute little oneshot from Merlin's childhood!


**Just a cute litte oneshot of Merlin as a child and what sort of friends he had other than Will!**

**I always wondered what sort of friends Merlin could have had as a child and what sort of friendly magical creatures he could have run into in the forests that surrounded Ealdor, here was a fun idea I though would be cute, it's not meant to be all that serious, just adorable =P**

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Merlin wasn't the most popular nine year old in Ealdor. Most of the other kids thought he was wierd and so avoided the skinny, black haired and fatherless boy at all costs. Surprisingly though, Merlin didn't mind, he had his best friend Will and what the adults called his 'imaginary' friends. Since he had first been old enough to venture into the forests surrounding Ealdor alone, he had had these friends, his closest ones were Amice and Willow. He had first met them when he had gotten lost in the forest, it had been getting dark and in his six year old mind, he'd been convinced that there were monsters everywhere just waiting to get him. Suddenly he'd heard to whispers through the silent forest, almost like a sweet tinkling bell. Reassured, he had followed the sounds to a small clearing where two miniature girls with sparkling diamond-like wings, no more than eight or nine inches tall each, sat on a root giggling, one in a white dress and one in a pale green dress.

Gasping and starting fowards, Merlin had gotten within three feet of them before they realised that he could see them. When they had stared up at him, terrified and shaking, the black haired six year old had dropped to his knees and smiled kindly,  
"I'm Merlin, I'm lost and I don't know how to get home..." The two tiny girls had stared at each other, still shocked that he could see them let alone speak to them, until the one in a gleaming white dress had stepped forwards, ignoring her friend in the green dress who tried to pull her back.  
"I am Amice, the friend of the the forest, this is my friend Willow, guardian of the Willow trees..." Willow stepped forwards and smiled, her pale green dress almost glimmering in the dim light, and blushed slightly.  
"I'm not the guardian yet, we have to wait till we are thirteen until we can take over our duties, we are only eight now..."

Happy to have found some friendly people, Merlin had sat down properly, resting his chin on his hands with a smile on his face.  
"I'm six... I was only here playing but I think I came into the forest too far, do you know the way to Ealdor?" The two small girls had smiled to each other and nodded, their wings fluttering as they flew up to eye level with the six year old. Amice was slightly closer than Willow and she held out her hand, touching Merlin's finger lightly.  
"Yes we know the way to Ealdor, we know everywhere in our forest, but how do you see us? We were told that only special people can see us, as well as other magical creatures..." Shrugging, Merlin had smiled at the two winged girls, unsure of how they wanted him to respond.  
"My mother says I'm special but she says its a secret... You two won't tell anyone will you?" Both girls shook their heads earnestly so Merlin smiled and sat up straighter, "I have magic. Mother says its dangerous for people to know so I musn't use it in front of anyone or I could get in trouble."

Willow smiled at her friend Amice and flew closer to Merlin, a bright smile lighting up her face as her fluttering wings glittered in the light.  
"Can you show us Merlin? We won't tell we promise... We're magic too so we can't tell anyone anyway or we would be in trouble..." With a smile at his new friends, Merlin glanced around the clearing he was sat in before thinking to himself as his eyes flashed a bright, dazzling gold. All around him the ground sprouted shoots and they grew and grew until the entire clearing was filled with beautiful, fully bloomed flowers, each more beautiful than the one before it. The two girls gasped and giggled, flying around the clearing and whooping with glee while Merlin lay back in the flowers and laughed with them, after a while of giggling, it started to get darker and, without thinking, Merlin's eyes flashed gold again and the canopy of leaves and branches above them moved apart giving them a clear view of the stars in the night sky.

Both Willow and Amice landed on either side of Merlin's head, quickly transferring to his hands which he held up like perches so that he could see them and they could sit and talk. After a long while, the girls flew up and Merlin clambered to his feet, happy and smiling. The still glittering girls had flown alongside Merlin, leading him to the edges of the forest surrounding Ealdor, close enough so that he could see his home. The six year had turned to his two friends with a smile.  
"Do you promise to play with me again some time, maybe introduce me to some of your other friends?" The girls had both nodded and each had hugged Merlin's neck before he ran back to the village and his waiting mother, who had been worried sick about her only son.

It had been three years since he'd first met Amice and Willow, they had stayed friends and he saw them regularly, but since their meeting they had realised that it was only Merlin who could see and hear them. They had asked the elder nymph's about why this was and they had explained to the girls and Merlin that as Merlin had been born with magic, he too was a creature of magic and could therefore see and hear them while others could not. None of them minded though and Merlin now had a large number of Nymph friends, including two other particularly close ones, Rhiannon and Evadne. Evadne, a water nymph who was one day set to be guardian of the stream that ran through the forest, always wore a pale blue dress while Rhiannon wore a pale pink dress and was not related to a certain part of nature, but would one day harmonise it all.

Wondering through the village, Merlin sighed, Will had had to go away with his family for a couple of months to visit his grandmother who was elderly and dying. With his best friend away, Merlin was more bored than ever until Rhiannon and Amice appeared, the sunlight dancing off of their flutterng wings. Aware that people were watching Merlin ignored the onlookers and rushed over to his friends, appearing to the onlookers to be talking with the air.  
"Rhiannon, Amice, what are you doing in the village? I thought you were too busy to see me today!" He held out his hands steadily in front of him and each girl landed on one of them, settling into a comfortable position as Merlin carefully walked through the village, keeping his hands steady. As Rhiannon watched the onlookers from the village with interest, Amice smiled up at their friend.  
"We got bored Merlin, we were wondering if you'd like to come and play by the stream with us, Evadne and Willow are waiting..." With a grin, Merlin nodded enthusiastically, changing direction slightly so that he was headed towards the forest which he now knew like the back of his hand.

As he walked away, chattering to his two friends, one of the village mothers watched on, she didn't know whether she should find the sight worrying or sweet so she hurried to the house where Merlin lived with his mother and knocked on the door, the boys mother answering on the second knock and waiting for her to speak.  
"Hunith, I was wondering... Have you noticed how your boy Merlin has imaginary friends? I'm sure its not healthy for a boy of his age to be spending so much time talking to himself and playing alone..." Hunith just smiled and glanced over the woman's shoulder, seeing Merlin's back as he entered the forest.  
"I'm sure he'll be fine Joan, he's a bright boy... Everyone has imaginary friends at some point in their childhood..." Joan just smiled blankly and nodded, walking away to find another mother and tell her about Hunith's boy and his strange imaginary friend. Surely most boys had male, full sized imaginary friends, it was only the girls who pretended to play with fairies...

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**Hooe you enjoyed that, I've thought that Merin must have been adorable as a child!**

**Let me know what you think but as ever, keep it nice and constructive, not that I've had anything but kind and constructive reviews, thanks guys! =]**


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